Haire Concedes, Pittman Declares Victory In Anne Arundel County Executive Race

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — Challenger Jessica Haire (R) conceded to incumbent Steuart Pittman (D) in the race for Anne Arundel County executive late Tuesday night.

"I just received a gracious phone call from Jessica Haire conceding the race for County Executive," Pittman said Tuesday night on Facebook. "I'm grateful to her for a hard run race, and for her dedicated service on our Council. I look forward to another four years making Anne Arundel the Best Place for All."

Pittman trailed Haire by nearly 11,000 votes after early voting and Election Day tallies. He mounted his comeback when officials started counting the mail-in ballots.

Pittman led Haire by 192 votes Wednesday at 9 a.m. Haire, the outgoing County Council member for District 7, expects that gap to grow.

Election workers still have to count the rest of the mail-in votes, most of which were sent by Democrats. Those ballots are still trickling in.

Officials must continue accepting mail-in ballots until Friday at 10 a.m. as long as they were postmarked by the Nov. 8 Election Day. The Anne Arundel County Board of Elections will also canvass the provisional ballots on Wednesday.

The results cannot be certified as final until Friday at the earliest.

"I'm beyond proud of the race we ran," Haire said Wednesday morning on Facebook. "Our team pushed back against lies and hyper-partisan false narratives, while staying relentlessly focused on effective management of local government and a commitment to facilitating shared success among communities."

Haire reflected on knocking doors, chatting with parents and holding town halls. She also thanked her husband, children, supporters and volunteers.

"Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your faith in me and my message," Haire said. "You gave your time, resources, and effort fighting for solutions to the many unaddressed problems our county has seen the last four years. I'll never forget it."

Haire congratulated Shannon Leadbetter, the Republican who hopes to succeed her on the County Council. Leadbetter led her race by about 4,000 votes as of 9 a.m. Wednesday.

"I am at my core an optimist," Haire said. "And so, as I continue my work in the private sector, I will remain committed to looking for opportunities to help our county achieve success and will evaluate if in the future, I can put to work my deep knowledge of the county's budget and operations for the benefit of county residents."

The unofficial vote tallies are posted at the bottom of this story.

Differences Between Candidates

Pittman, a former farmer and horse trainer, billed himself as an environmentalist who has kept taxes at a lower rate than comparable Maryland counties. The Davidsonville native was endorsed by the county teacher, police and firefighter unions.

Haire, an engineer and an attorney, pitched herself as a fiscal conservative who wants to trim governmental waste. The Edgewater resident was endorsed by the Anne Arundel County Association of Realtors. Haire also worked closely with Campaign Chairman Nic Kipke, a Republican representing the Pasadena area in the House of Delegates.

Pittman took office in 2018 after thwarting the re-election bid of then County Executive Steve Schuh.

Some of Pittman's proudest accomplishments include:

• Delivering a tax cut this year on the first $50,000 of taxable income.
• Having the 7th-lowest property taxes of Maryland's 24 jurisdictions, which is the best rate in this region of the state.
• Earning the county's first triple-A bond rating from Moody's, a credit rating company.
• Starting to convert the county's fleet to electric vehicles.
• Funding the construction of a new 911 call center and a new police firing range.

Pittman also orchestrated $5,000 signing and retention bonuses for school bus drivers to combat the ongoing shortage. That has not solved the issue completely. Families still have to check if their routes have a driver each day, leaving many students without rides to school.

Haire thinks this unreliable school transportation was one of the biggest dings against Pittman's administration. She recently posted a Capital Gazette article on Facebook that said students have missed a combined 3,100 days of school because of bus issues.

"We can't even get our kids to school," Haire said at an October debate with Pittman. "We can do better than this. Together, we can change this trajectory."

Related: Analyzing Pittman Vs. Haire After Anne Arundel County Executive Debate

Pittman has frequently called out Haire for voting against this year's bipartisan budget, which included raises for all Anne Arundel County Public Schools teachers and staff.

Haire challenged Pittman's savings plan for the county. She highlighted Pittman's $110.8 million deposit this year into the county's rainy day fund. Rather than save that budget surplus, Haire would've rather had a larger tax cut.

Pittman has accused Haire of accepting $250,000 in campaign contributions from donors related to a company seeking to build a rubble landfill in a quiet Odenton community.

Pittman and Haire both said they oppose the landfill.

Haire also said a public information review found that she did not have any documents about the landfill in her county computer, phone, email or office files.

The landfill plans are currently on hold. The County Council, including Haire, voted unanimously to buy the land that developers needed to access the proposed landfill site. The county is now building an elementary school on that plot.

Pittman and Haire also disagree on development strategies.

Pittman wants to build higher-density projects at town centers in Annapolis, Glen Burnie and Odenton. He thinks this would create more affordable housing near transportation hubs.

"We cannot all afford a half an acre lot and a $700,000 house," Pittman said at the debate. "If we are going to support our community and move forward, we've got to say we're going to support smart growth."

Haire is against those large developments in already-crowded areas. She believes these projects would increase traffic.

Unofficial Vote Tallies

The table below shows the unofficial vote tallies as of 9 a.m. Wednesday.

The names of incumbents are bolded and starred. Every candidate's name is linked to their campaign website. Voters can check which district they live in by using this tool.

County Executive

• Jessica Haire (R): 87,841
• Steuart Pittman* (D): 88,033

County Council District 1

• Jeremy M. Shifflett (R): 8,273
• Pete Smith (D): 10,806

County Council District 2

• Noel J. Smith (R): 8,753
• Allison Pickard* (D): 9,151
• David Sgambellone (Libertarian): 656

County Council District 3

• Nathan Volke* (R): 20,001
• Michael Gendel (D write-in): 0
• Other write-ins: 1,058

County Council District 4

• Cheryl Renshaw (R): 5,875
• Julie Hummer (D): 13,314

County Council District 5

• Amanda Fiedler* (R): 17,876
• Carl James Neimeyer (D): 13,331

County Council District 6

• Mike Pantelides (R): 14,203
• Lisa Brannigan Rodvien* (D): 16,668

County Council District 7

• Shannon Leadbetter (R): 16,795
• Shawn Livingston (D): 12,663

Visit elections.maryland.gov to see the results of every race in the state.

Status Of Referendums

Several jurisdictions also have local ballot questions. Here are the early tallies for Anne Arundel's referendums seeking to amend the county charter to:

• Require the Anne Arundel County Veterans Affairs Commission.
  • (132,371 yes, 22,961 no)
• Provide that no person elected or appointed to the office of County Councilmember may serve more than three full consecutive four-year terms.
  • (130,972 yes, 35,267 no)
• Require that the compensation paid to each member of the County Council be paid after consideration of recommendations of the Salary Standard Commission that are approved by ordinance of the County Council.
  • (122,646 yes, 33,113 no)
• Remove the requirement that copies of bills and notices of public hearings be posted on a bulletin board and to require that electronic copies of bills and notice of any public hearing be published to the County Council website and that printed copies of bills be made available to the public and press and that bills receive required publication.
  • (119,529 yes, 40,436 no)
• Clarify the differences between the two types of emergency ordinances allowed under the Charter and the legislative procedure that applies to each.
  • (134,295 yes, 19,006 no)
• Allow the County Council to assign additional functions, duties, and personnel to the County Auditor that are related to the finances and financial affairs of the County.
  • (118,761 yes, 37,039 no)
• Change the name of the Charter Revision Commission to the Redistricting and Charter Revision Commission and to amend the date by which a decennial Redistricting and Charter Revision Commission must be appointed by the County Council.
  • (104,679 yes, 44,677 no)
• Be gender neutral consistent with changes recommended based on a review by the County Attorney.
  • (91,320 yes, 73,024 no)

These ballot questions will pass if they collect a plurality of votes. That means they just need to secure more yes's than no's.

Related:

• Maryland Legalizes Recreational Marijuana, AP Projects
• Pittman Trims Deficit But Still Trails In Anne Arundel Executive Race
• Pittman Expects Victory As Anne Arundel Awaits Mail-In Ballot Count